Avianca, Colombia’s national airline carrier, on Wednesday announced a codeshare agreement with Sky Airline of Chile that will go into effect on Thursday.
A codeshare agreement is a business arrangement whereby two airlines share the same flight. Passengers in Colombia who want to travel to a regional airport in Chile will no longer have to buy two tickets – one to the hub in Santiago and a second flight to the regional destination – and can now just purchase one.
The arrangement will also save on check-in time and make luggage transfer easier. A similar deal was signed by Sky Airline and Taca Peru in November 2011.
AviacaTaca President Fabio Villegas Ramirez said, “this codeshare alliance with Sky Airline constitutes an important step for AviancaTaca to the extent that it allows the consolidation of routes and destinations on offer in the south of the continent, and in this way, widen the options of connectivity and service to passengers of both airlines who travel in the region.”
According to Aviacol.net, Roque Palacios, head of international marketing at Sky Airline, “passengers from Colombia will be able to access many places in Chile. [Also] we can offer all Chileans connections within Colombia.”
Sky Airline passengers landing in Bogota will be able travel on to Barranquilla, Cali, Cartagena, Medellin, San Andres and Santa Marta with Avianca Taca operating for Sky Airline.
Similarly customers on AviancaTaca flights landing in the Chilean capital Santiago will be able to connect with Sky Airline to the cities of Iquique, Calama, Puerto Natales, Antofagasta, Copiapo, Concepcion, Temuco, Puerto Montt and Punta Arenas.